In This Skin - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Initial critical response to In This Skin was generally negative. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine gave the album 2.5 stars rating, saying "The catchy tune, penned by Diane Warren, is a glossy, ever-so-slightly over-produced affair. And the same can be said for the entire album, which is weighed down by soggy, overwrought pop ballads that find Simpson repeatedly declaring her devotion to Lachey. "My Way Home" contains one, bizarre 15-second display of Simpson's lung capacity and a Middle Eastern ether so faint and wispy it virtually evaporates beneath the track's slick production. In This Skin contains a few surprises, though, including "Forbidden Fruit," a track unabashedly inspired by Madonna's "Music," and "Loving You," a seductively contrived reminder that, with teen pop long dead, Simpson should be aiming to recapture the club audience that helped launch her career with I Wanna Love You Forever."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic gave the album 2.5 stars rating with a negative review, saying "Now, for her third album, In This Skin, she tones down the trashy club beats and image, staying within the contemporary dance-pop realm while inching toward the middle-of-the-road diva that she's always yearned to be. The problem with In This Skin is that its heart is in the mature middle of the road but its sound is still pitched too young, making this a record that satisfies neither audience." Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone gave the album 2 stars, quoting "Judging by Skin, her third album, it's a lesson she's still working through. Her powerful voice is done a disservice by insipid songwriting and arrangements -- as on the loathsome club track 'Forbidden Fruit' and the uncomfortably stately ballad 'You Don't Have to Let Go' -- that consistently get in the way of her pipes."